A times for 6.5 months old

[Scb345]

Hi ladies,

I have just joined and wondered if anyone could help me out either my daughter's naps. She keeps waking from her first nap at 30-40 mins (max). She wakens up happy, so I assume that she is under tired, so have been trying to increase her A time but we are over 3 hours now and she gets really cranky as the nap approaches. After her short nap I give her an A time of 2hr45 and she will then sleep for 1.5-2.5 hours.

Do I keep gradually extending her morning A time? It just seems really long for a baby of her age but I have tried from 2hr gradually increasing and she still wakes up between 30-40 mins. She is always happy when she wakes up, but then maybe 20-30 mins later she gets grumpy...is it possible she has actually been OT?

Sorry, hope you can make sense of my post!! It's driving me crazy! X

[creations]

Hello, welcome to BW forums

It is possible her first A time needs to be over 3hrs, some LOs do like a really long first A time (mine did) but it doesn't always mean they need to be equally long all day (mine had very short A time before BT).  I would suggest trying 3hr 15 for several days and also to do a W2S (wake to sleep, info below) by going in at around 25 mins and either beginning shush/pat (or your adapted form of soothing in the cot) or ready yourself for the very first sign she is stirring and begin then. Continue with your soothing until she settles into her next sleep cycle, it could be 20 mins before she is in deep sleep.  This is a tool to help teach her to stay asleep. It could be that she started out UT but then built a habit of walking fully at the 40 min mark and neds to be reminded that a long sleep is expected.
Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!
How do I address habitual wakings? (wake-to-sleep and other methods)

If you get a long first nap (even if it is assisted with the W2S) you may need to extend the second a time.  Just look out for any cues, if she is resistant at your usual 2hr 45 just tell her "oops looks like you aren't ready yet" take her out of the room do another 15 min A and try again.  Equally if the first nap increases and the second nap shortens as a result you will need to tweak that second A time.

After 3 days of the W2S hold off on day 4 to see how she is. If she still short naps then it may need another cycle or 2 of W2S or another A increase.

Hope this helps, let us know how you get on and if you have any more questions

[Scb345]

Thank you so much  I will keep trying over 3 hours for The first A time, and try w2s too. I will let you know how I get on in a few days x

[creations]

Good luck